Amir questions selection policy for Africa tour

Pakistan’s fast-bowler Mohammad Amir, in an interview with CricketPakistan.com.pk on Thursday, questioned the selection policy for the upcoming tour of South Africa.

The 28-year-old, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket after disagreements with management, claimed that there was no vision as far as selection matters were concerned.

“I don’t know what their mindset is, but I can’t see a vision or mindset, sorry to say. In each series they are bringing in two to three new players while six or seven players are being discarded. This does not happen anywhere in the world. The Pakistan cricket team is not a lottery where you can just bring in everyone one by one,” Amir said.

“If I give you a recent example, Ishan Kishan made his debut and he performed so well. Everyone is looking at him and praising him but he has around three to four IPL seasons behind him. He didn’t come into the national side based on just one season or just one match. He has been playing domestic cricket for three to four years as well. He came into the national side after that,” he added.

The fast-bowler questioned the credentials of some young cricketers who made their way into the national squad despite their inexperience.

“You can see that in the PSL players came in based on just five matches such as Wasim Jr and Shahnawaz Dhani. This is not a joke. They are good players but is Pakistan cricket so bad that if you perform in a couple of games you can get into the national side? His has never happened. Everyone think I played early, I didn’t. I played school cricket, I played district under-19 next, I then played region under-19, then I played for Pakistan Academy, then I went on three Pakistan under-19 tours, I then played an Under-19 World Cup, then I featured in Pakistan A, then I played One-Day games in first-class cricket followed by four-day games, and then I finally managed to find a place in the national side,” he said.

“We all came through a process. If you see players of the past, when they came into the side, they remained with it for a prolonged period of time. Nowadays, when I see the talented players coming in after 2015, they are discarded after just two or three matches. This is the reason for it. They are in the side on the back of just three or four first-class games,” he added.

ALSO READ: Amir slams ‘visionless’ chief selector Wasim

Amir claimed that social media popularity should not be the criteria to build a team.

“I think the chief selector is just riding the trend that was all over social media of giving youngsters a chance. They should definitely give youngsters a chance but teams are not made based on public choices. Teams are made based on the quality and performances of the players. The public can say whatever they want. The public will have its own opinion which is their right. But a selector has to do the job given to him and not follow the puclic of the media by playing three players from Karachi or three from Lahore. This should never happen. They should think about Pakistan,” he said.

“I don’t understand how they dropped Imad Wasim. I think in the past they changed the captain of the Northern side on Twitter. A tournament is going on and the captain is being changed on social media. Nowhere else in the world does something like this happen. He (Mohammad Wasim) is the chief selector now. I hope he fulfills his duties well. Imad however should never have been out of the One-Day side. You can take out his recent performances. You can also take the example of Haris (Sohail). He can never be taken out of the ODI side. You should go check out his performances and averages,” he concluded.